Railway-crossing.



J. S. SPIREWFKI, Jn.. RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1914.

1,122,325, 7. Patented Dec.29,1914.

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JOHN S. SPIREWFKI, JR., OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. .ASSIGNOR OF EIVE-SIXIEENTHS TO DANIEL C. OCONNELL AND FIVE-SIXTEENTHS TO MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

RAILWAY-CROSSING.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

Application filed March 30, 1914. Serial No. 828,242.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. SPIREWFKI, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of lVisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossings,

' of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway crossings of that type in which a channeled member is rotatively mounted at each meeting point of crossed rails and adjusted or oscillated to receive the wheel of a railwaycrossing embod ing my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view drawn on line zrm of Fig. 1. 1 1g. 3 is a detail plan view of the actuating mechanism with the entire mechanism turned through an angle of 180 degrees.

Like parts are identified by the same reference letters throughout the several views. In the drawings, A, A, are the track rails of one line of railway track and B, B, are

' the track rails of a cross line. These rails are connected with each other at the crossing points by a connecting member C to which the ends of the rails may be welded or otherwise secured. The member C is provided with a socket D which receives an oscillatory member E, the latter being supported from the base of the socket by conicalanti-friction rollers e. The member E is provided with a channel E in the upper surface of said member, which crosses said member at one side of the center and is adapted to be alined with the line of travel of a wheel flange along the inner facing of the head of the rail A or of the head of the rail B, if

said member E is rotatedone-quarter of a turn from its position as illustrated in Fig. 1, and in the direction indicated by the arrow in said figure. The upper surfaces of the members C and E arein the same horizontal plane with the-upper surfaces of the rail heads, said members therefore bridging the crossing. Owing to the fact that member E is provided with the channel E to receive the wheel flange, it is obvious that jolting will be avoided, since the member C is provided with channels a, b, the channels a being adapted to receive the flanges of wheels traveling on the track A, While the channels I) receive those of wheels traveling on the track rail B.

A pair of solenoids G and H are employed to automatically adjust the crossing members E to the desired position. Each solenoid G is electrically connected to receive current from the line conductor of a car approaching on the track rails A. It is not material whether such current is received directly from the rail or from the main conductor, or from any other source of electrical energy controlled from the car. It is merely essential that the connections be such that when the car approaches the crossing upon track A, solenoid G will be energized. The core G of this solenoid is connected with a rack bar 9, which transmits its motion through a gear wheel or pinion I to the member E The gear wheel or pinion I is preferably not connected with the member E for the reason that it is not desirable that shocks applied to member E should be communicated to the actuating mechanism. For this reason I support the member E upon the anti-friction rollers e and provide it with a downwardly extending projection J loosely interlocked in a hub proiection J on the gear wheel I. The pro-' jection J and hub J are so interlocked as to transmit rotative movements, while allowing independent vertical movements. For example,'the projection J may be'squared and entered in a souared socket in thehub J as illustrated. The pull of the solenoid core G upon the rack bar a is limited by a solenoid cap 9. When the car strikes this cap, the channel E in the oscillatory member E'will be in position to receive the wheel flanges of a car on track A. It will be ob-' served, however. that the rack bar 7 is also connected with the solenoid core H of solenoid H. The winding of this solenoid is energized from a source of electrical energy controlled by cars approaching on track rails B. Assuming the parts to be in the position illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it is obvious that when a car approaches on track B and energizes solenoid H, its core'H will be drawn inwardly to the cap h, thereby actuating the member E in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon in Fig. 1, to thereby bring its channel E into position to receive the flanges of a wheel traveling on track rail B. i i

It will of course be understood that when solenoid H is energized, solenoid G will be deenergized, since the cars may cross in but one direction at a time and an approaching car on the other track will stop at a suflicient distance from the crossing to avoid energizing the solenoids relating to that track. It will also be observed that by using two solenoids, it is possible to utilize the deenergized solenoid as a guide, acting cooperatively with the other solenoid to hold the rack bar 9 in engagement with the gear wheel I. It is further obvious that if any of the crossing members should become wholly or partially displaced in the intervals between the crossing of cars on said tracks, said members will be replaced in proper position from any point of displace ment as soon as the solenoid is energized upon the approach of a car. This is due to the fact that the solenoid caps g, h limit the possible oscillations of the crossing members and the magnetic pull upon the core of the energized solenoid will necessarily draw such core inwardly until it strikes the cap. It is deemed unnecessary to illustrate diagrammatically or otherwise, any of the various means that may be devised for connecting said solenoids with a source of electrical energy subject to the control of an approaching car, for any person skilled in this art will understand how to provide for such connections. It is not material whether such connection is made directly by the trolley or by an auxiliary contact device carried by the car, or by mechanism which utilizes the weight, momentum, or tractive energy of the car to mechanically connect up an electrical switch. In the drawings I have illustrated the solenoid windings as respectively connected with the track rails to which they cooperatively relate, whereby a current in the rail may pass through and energize the solenoid and thence to the ground, but this is merely illustrative of a possible means for conveying the energizing current to the solenoids.

The several pairs of solenoids, together with the rack bars and gear wheels, may be securely housed in suitable metal casings L.

Instead of using a pair of solenoids for each of the crossed rails, I may utilize one pair of solenoids for a series of alined crossings, vas shown at the left hand in Fig. 1,

' where I have diagrammatically illustrated a rack bar M projected through a solenoid cap 9 and through the end of the housing L, said ar ext nding nt the housi g L of the djacent cr ss d arranged to series el as reset ma ks attests-me cents *2 adapted to be controlled by a car upon one rack for actuating said oscillatory mechanism inone direction, and similar mechanism adapted to be controlled by a car on the other track for actuating said member in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

2. The combination with an oscillatory channeled railway crossing member, of pair of solenoids each provided with a movable core, an actuating bar connecting said solenoid cores, and means for transmitting motion from said actuating bar to the oscilla-tory member, substantially as described.

3. The combination with an oscillatory channeled railway crossing member, of a gear wheel in slip joint connection therewith adapted to transmit oscillatory movements thereto, a rack bar in mesh with said gear I wheel, and electromagnetic means for actuating said rack bar in two directions, together with means for limiting the movement of said rack bar to a one-quarter turn of the gear wheel in either direction, sub stantially as described.

at. The combination with a fixed railway crossing member provided with a socket and adapted to engage the rails of crossed railway tracks, of an oscillatory member mounted in said socket, supporting antifriction devices interposed between said member and the base of said socket, a gear wheel connected for motion transmission to said oscillatory member, and a plurality of electromagnetic devices for actuating said gear wheel, one of said devices being adapted to be connected up electrically with a. source of energy by a car approaching on one track, and the other of said devices being adapted to be connected up electrically with a source of energy by a car approaching on the other track, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN S. SPIREXVFKL JR. Witnesses:

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